The 1940 election was a very important one in Canada’s history. It was the first wartime election since 1917, and the Liberals under William Lyon Mackenzie King were hoping to win an election for the second straight time.
The party had led Canada since 1935, after the Conservatives under R.B. Bennett went down in flames over how voters felt they handled The Great Depression.
It was unlikely that the Liberals would lose the election. They were popular and typically governments don’t change in the middle of a war.
One week before the election, on March 19, 1940, Achille Dubeau was giving a speech in Montreal at the St. Henry College Hall. A mechanic by trade, he was hoping to win the Hochelaga riding for the Conservatives, or National Government as it was called during the war.
That night, he gave a very energetic speech, with his hands waving back and forth. As he moved around in his speech, criticizing the foreign policy of William Lyon Mackenzie King, small clouds of smoke began to come from his pants. Visible to everyone in the audience, little flames seemed to be emanating from his pocket.
As it turned out, his movements had caused several matches in his pocket to ignite due to rubbing against the fabric of his pants. He quickly put the fire in his pants out with one hand, while the other hand gestated anger towards King.
The Montreal Gazette wrote,
“It was indeed a warm moment for the Tory hopeful, but in the end his oratory triumphed and the visible smoke abated through the offices of several well-directed, if painful, pitches”
Most amazingly, Dubeau was able to finish his speech, even as people in the audience laughed.
Unfortunately for Dubeau, he didn’t win his riding in 1940, nor in 1945 when he ran for the Progressive Conservatives. He also failed to be elected in the 1948 and 1956 Quebec elections.
As for the Liberals, they won the election and every election until 1957 when John Diefenbaker and the Conservatives came to power.